-The Mayan calendar ends on December 21, 2012. (solstice) It is debated by many as to why the Mayans end their calendar on that day. The Mayan astrology also points to a very rare and extremely important alignment of the planets in our planetary system which occurs on the last day of their calendar.
-Nasa concurs with the Mayan calendar because on February 21, 2008, the sun will rise perfectly aligned with the planes of the Milky Way. It coincides exactly with the Mayan prophecy as some call it.
-Nasa predicts that right around that time, the sun will reach what they call solar max as it enters its new cycle.
-Nasa predicts solar storms at about the same time. Some sources claim that the solar storms could reach the earth and cause massive destruction. Currently, the sun is inactive but some magnetic sun spots have been discovered by Nasa in 2007. It's the calm before the storm as some say.
-Nasa also predicts a possible magnetic pole shift of the earth. This would mean that your good old compass would start pointing south. You can imagine how that would screw things up... Nasa also confirmed and published that the same phenomenon has occurred thousands of years ago.
-In addition to the Mayan and Nasa, Nostradamus' predictions also point to the same date according to a group of credible scientist and professionals who studied his predictions in the "lost books."
-Tied with Nostradamus' predictions and ancient astrology, there exists a thirteenth astrological sign called Ophiucus(google it) which lies between Scorpio and Sagittarius. This astrological body lies at the center of the Milky way and is predicted to be in perfect alignment with the sun on Feb, 21 2012.
-In addition to Nasa, the Mayan calendar, and Nostradamus, Bible code enthusiasts come up with the same conclusions that 2012 is probably the most significant date in history of mankind; Perhaps The Apocalypse.
-In addition to the above, many astrologers and other reputed scientists fear that 2012 is going to bring changes and possibly catastrophes on a scale that has never been seen before. To be fair, I read a lot from naysayers as well.
-In 1983, Nasa published their finding of a new planet in the Milky Way referred to as Planet X or as Nibiru. Soon after, they called it a mistake and have since refused to acknowledge that such planet exists. According to many (countless) other sources on the web, this planet is due to orbit close to Earth in 2012. Some say it, or parts of it, may even collide with the earth and end civilization as we know it. This supposedly coincides with Nostradamus's predictions as well as the bible code and the Mayan's prophecy. There is a variety of people who claim that Nasa is now covering the truth about the coming of Nibiru.
Now... All of the above appears to create a lot of movement among scientists, religious groups, Nasa, and of course on the web.
The predictions range from mild climate changes to more common predictions calling for a huge impact on the world as we know it, from mild to mass destruction. The rare alignment of the sun and other planets, and the pole shift will supposedly bring hurricanes, floods, droughts, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc, as predicted by the bible, by the Mayans and by Nostradamus among others.
Another common belief is that the magnetic pole shift will result in great changes for humans, often referred to as an awakening or some such.
It's all really to much for me. My head is spinning after reading so much about this, but I admit that my naive uneducated self finds it all very spooky.